The Evil God Summoned by the Saintess

The first thing after coming back, apart from sending messages to a few friends, was to check in with Alina, let her know I was safe, and pick up my rewards for winning the Mage League from the school, Holy Court, and Ista Royal Family.

There weren’t any special prizes, really. All together it was just 400 gold coins.

But gold coins are the sort of thing you can never have too many of.

Handing the coins over to Hilia, Alina smiled, "If you’d come back a week later, the exams would have been over already."

Hilia chuckled, "I specifically rushed back for the exams, otherwise I might’ve just skipped town."

Alina rolled her eyes, "If you ran off, I’d drag you right back. You can skip the classes, but you can’t skip the exams or the holiday trial."

Hilia asked, "Is this holiday trial another ruin-exploration?"

Alina nodded, then shook her head, "For the other second-years, the trial’s still a ruin-exploration, but not for you guys. You need to team up with the fourth and fifth-years for a Holy Court operation."

Hilia was slightly startled, "What kind of operation?"

"A sect-suppression operation," Alina said. "What happened in Kost City was a wake-up call for us. Combined with the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association trying to summon a white whale to destroy Huijin City, the Holy Court thinks maybe the heretics are collaborating now. So they’re planning a purge. You and the other Holy Daughter trainees will join the Law Enforcement Knight Order."

Heretics again...

Hilia griped in her mind, then asked, "So which sect are we going after?"

Alina shook her head, "No idea yet, you’ll have to ask the Headmaster. He’ll probably come find you himself when the time comes."

"Alright then."

After picking up her gold coins, Hilia left and headed back to her dorm room.

After two months away, everything in the dorm was now covered in a layer of dust.

She used a minor spell to blow all the dust out, hopped onto her bed, sprawled out like a starfish, and finally relaxed.

So many days on the road had drained her. The moment she touched her familiar bed, she fell right asleep.

When she woke up again, it was evening. Invited by Benovia, Hilia went out for a belated celebration dinner with her fellow Holy Daughter candidates.

At the dinner, Benovia said to Hilia, "Hilia, the Holy Court plans for us to form a team over the break and join the Law Enforcement Knight Order in the Deep Sea purge."

"So it’s the Deep Sea they’re going after?"

Benovia nodded, "The other heretic sects are rarely found within our borders; only the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association is fully stationed in Ista. During the League, it seems the Holy Court found their main base, planning to purge it over the holiday."

"Alright, got it."

Purging heretics—Hilia wasn’t exactly fazed by it.

Any time she goes out, she bumps into heretic bases. She’s numb to it by now.

But the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association’s main base...

A place like that must be crawling with high-tier mages, right?

Rumor has it the leaders of the Twelve Heterodox Sects are Tier Five or even Tier Six mages. The few Tier Three mages among them... probably won’t be much use...

Benovia grinned, "The trial’s probably just to let us witness high-tier battles, so we can understand mages of Tier Four and above."

Hilia nodded, "Makes sense. Otherwise we’d just be background extras."

...

After dinner, Hilia said goodbye to everyone and returned to her dorm.

She took out her magic staff and the ice element high-level crystal core for inspection.

"Should I really swap out the pure magic crystal for the elemental crystal core...?"

Hilia turned to Rose.

Rose said, "Until your refining rate hits 150%, there’s no need. Using single-element magic power crystals in your staff at low refinement makes your spells from other elements dramatically weaker."

Hilia nodded and put it away, "Alright then. But after 100%, my refining rate is really slowing down... Wonder when I’ll reach 150%."

Rose chuckled, "Take your time. As long as you get there before advancing to Tier Four."

Hilia’s heart skipped, "Before Tier Four? Is that even possible?"

Rose replied, "Just grinding away won’t cut it. You need to find the Divine Ruins and Legendary Mage Ruins to get their ultra-rare magic materials."

"Those places sound impossible to find!"

Rose nodded, "Generally, yeah. But isn’t your school planning to purge the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association’s main base? There are some inside."

Hilia said, "But if everyone’s going to purge the Deep Sea’s main base... I won’t be able to sneak anything, will I?"

Rose replied, "Usually, no. Unless the place you found is the real main base."

"The Holy Court found a fake main base?"

"Well, not exactly fake—more like nested. No point talking too much now, you wouldn’t get it. Anyway, just go get some auxiliary materials for your cultivation in the meantime."

"Alright then."

"This operation might not go that smoothly, huh." Rose laughed softly.

Benovia had managed her summoning and made contact—even if she couldn’t connect anytime like Hilia, she’d split off some spiritual power, so she could always sense and monitor Benovia’s surroundings.

That means the situation in Huijin City has always been within Rose’s perception. She’d already known about the Holy Court’s plans.

When the Holy Court pinpointed the coordinates of the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association’s main base, Rose consulted Sea God Ethel and got the answer: that wasn’t the real base, just a decoy base for disguise.

The actual Deep Sea base was built under Ethel’s instruction, specifically to keep others from finding out.

But now, all those precautions are pointless.

Because he’s now Rose’s captive.

At first, he wasn’t willing to spill any intel, hoping someday he’d escape.

Now though...

He’s given up on dreams and is happily cooperating.

Asked about the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association, he answered straight—

"The scattered fragments of Divine Format: half are in Sea of Tranquility, the rest—one part is with the president, and the other serves as the core of the Concealment Array, hiding the real main base. The Holy Court will find it almost impossible to locate. In the end, they’ll mistake the fake for the real."

"The real base has plenty of good stuff. You probably want to snag some for that Holy Daughter, huh? Whether you can pull it off, well, that’s up to you."

Rose cracked her knuckles, "Feeling itchy for a beating, are you?"

Ethel snapped, "What else do you do besides beating me?"

"Beating you is fun for me!"

"You damned bastard, I’ll fight you—ah!"